Conventionally, searching document sets for content related to a particular keyword or topic of interest involves a user inputting a search query into the appropriate field of a search engine query page or a search tool bar. In response, search results (which may include a title, brief description, one or more links, one or more thumbnails, or the like) are typically retrieved and displayed in a document viewing window or a search results pane. A user desiring to view the content associated with a particular search result may select the desired result causing the document viewing window to navigate to an initial document, e.g., a web page, associated therewith. In many cases, the user spends some time viewing the initial document and/or other documents linked to the initial document. If the user decides to return to the search results and, potentially, view another search result, the user must return to the document viewing window containing the search results, typically by navigating backwards in the document viewing window through all documents that have been viewed since the most recent search result selection. Backward navigations may take some time if the user has viewed content associated with a number of documents since most recently selecting a search result, such documents either being traceable through links back to the initial document or having separately input identifiers (e.g., web site addresses).
Such navigation back to the search results has a number of drawbacks. For instance, some of the viewed documents may be programmed to be displayed in a document viewing window separate from the window from which they were selected. This may result in multiple document viewing windows being open simultaneously, crowding the user's desktop space. Additionally, document viewing windows are typically configured to present only a limited number of search results at a time, thereby requiring the user to navigate to a subsequent document to view additional search results. This is not only inefficient but makes it difficult for the user to easily ascertain the quantity of returned search results and/or the relevance of any particular individual search result. In current search environments, therefore, the user is often forced to expend much of their time and effort navigating through the search results to find what the user desires to learn.
Search results displayed in a search results pane rather than a document viewing window alleviate some of the difficulties associated with document viewing window-displayed search results. For instance, the search results pane may remain visible to the user at all times alleviating the need for backward navigation through a series of viewed documents. However, as the search results pane is always visible to the user, it takes up a portion of the display area available for displaying selected documents, thus making the displayed content more difficult for a user to see.